Most people see a useless piece of paper but for a business, receipts can save you money, protect your business during a financial audit, and help your business pay less in income taxes.
Every transaction, especially business related, comes with a receipt to provide you with a proof of payment. This is where a lot of people think the power of the receipt stops, but that is only the beginning!
Earning Extra Money
Did you know there are companies that will actually pay you for pictures of your receipts? These companies gather data from the receipts and give you a small reward for each receipt you scan. Some examples include Upside and Fetch Rewards.
Upside is a free app that gives you real cash back on gas, groceries, and at restaurants. According to their website the average user earns $203/year, not too bad for a free app. The only downside is you can only earn rewards at certain gas stations and restaurants.
Fetch Rewards lets you Earn points on ANY receipt from ANY store or restaurant. Redeem points for gift cards and other rewards. Fetch is one of the fastest growing reward apps due to the fact that you can scan receipts from any purchase anywhere. Now while the rewards aren't huge, they do add up quickly if you use the app on a consistent basis!
Protecting Your Business
Receipts are crucial when it comes to protecting your business during a financial audit, especially with the IRS (Internal Revenue Service). If there are transactions recorded as tax write-offs that can't be proven during an audit, your business could end up paying thousands in penalties and fees, and for severe cases even possible jail-time.
In order to keep yourself protected, I would recommend using an accounting or bookkeeping software that can save all your receipts in one location. By doing this you are protecting your business and your financial data. The best part is there is no need to keep any paper receipts after they are added to an online system. Everything you need will be in your account and easily recalled at any time.
Receipts for Tax Time
No one likes paying taxes and keeping up with your receipts is critical to paying the lowest amount possible. Events such as meals, getting gas, and other business related purchases can be reported on your tax return to reduce the amount of taxes your business has to pay. However, reporting everyday expenses such as meals requires you to save a lot of receipts!
This is where, again, a solid accounting system would make your life easier by storing all your receipts in one place.
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